Touch screens aren’t just used in smartphones and retail displays; while they’re most commonly seen in consumer electronics and consumer-facing applications like tablets and kiosks, they also fulfill an important role in industries where touch screens face harsh conditions. That’s why you’ll find two types: resistive touch screens and capacitive touch screens. Capacitive touch screens, the kind you find in your phone or your tablet, reads the electric charge of your finger and can read multiple touches at the same time. Resistive touch screens rely on impact – the top layer of glass connecting with the sensors below and making contact.
Capacitive touch screens are more user friendly, but you should remember resistive touch screens from old phones, or from the mobile computers used by couriers today. These are used in tougher applications, such as in ruggedized industrial PDAs that warehouse and shipping professionals use to track inventory or in kiosks like ATMs that will be used hundreds of times a day by the public. But there are also industries and applications that even a standard resistive touch screen can’t stand up to.
That’s where touch screen manufacturer A D Metro enters the story, with their ULTRA resistive touch screen technology. This innovation is putting touch screens into military, marine, and transportation applications, not to mention retail applications like kiosks and signage that need to be weatherproof, contamination proof, and vandal proof, from restaurants to airplane cockpits. It’s one of the innovations you can read more about if you visit the A D Metro Blog, but here are some of the innovations that are making the ULTRA resistive touch screen the only option for so many manufacturers.
#1 Extended Operating Range
Touch screens need to move, which means they need to have an extended operating range, work in all temperatures, and consume low amounts of power. It also needs to come with EMI immunity if it’s going to be used in any kind of transportation or mission critical application.
#2 Durability
If you’re going to put a touch screen in the cockpit of an airplane, you need to know it’s reliable. ULTRA resistive touch screens are designed to resist abrasion and scratches, to prevent damage from vandalism in applications that are left out over night. Even if the substrate glass is broken, it’s designed to resist spalling. The ULTRA resistive touch screen from A D Metro is flame and spark retardant for industrial uses, waterproof, and impervious to contaminants such as chemical solvents. When it comes to durability, few products can compete.
#3 Integration
At the end of the day, manufacturers demand both reliability and affordability. Touch screens cost less when they’re easier to integrate into products and systems, which is why it helps to find a touch screen supplier that works closely with manufacturers to accomplish just that.
The ULTRA resistive touch screen is putting touch screens in environments that have until now been considered too harsh for the technology. Find out more about touch screen technology innovations today.
